System and method for analyzing medical images

Abstract

A system and method are provided for analyzing medical images and monitoring pregnancies for a plurality of animal patients. Medical images obtained from medical imaging devices are scanned, and extracted data are stored in a database. A color histogram is generating characterizing the image based on placental blood flow.

1 . A method of analyzing medical images from a plurality of animal species used in monitoring pregnancies, the method comprising:
 retrieving one or more medical images from a medical imaging device;   for each medical image, extracting data from the medical image, the data including one or more technical settings associated with the medical imaging device; and   storing the image and the extracted data,   wherein the steps of retrieving, extracting, and storing are repeated at predetermined time intervals to detect changes.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein extracting data further comprises:
 defining a template representative of the data located in the image; and   performing an optical scanning operation on the image to obtain the data based on the defined template.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a color histogram, based on the one or more medical images, representing blood flow in the placenta.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 generating a report based on the image and the extracted data.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the report comprises data representing a plurality of images for a single patient. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the report comprises data representing a plurality of images for different patients. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the report comprises data representing a plurality of images for different patients of different species. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the extracted data further comprises a patient identifier and one or more measured parameters. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the measured parameters comprise one or more of crown rump length, biparietal diameter, femur, humerus, abdominal circumference, umbilical cord insertion size, amniotic sac mean diameter, placentome area, heart rate, vascular resistance index of the umbilical cord, uterine arteries measurements, and venous ductus measurements. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein generating a color histogram comprises:
 receiving, as a first input, a selection of a desired area of a medical image;   receiving, as a second input, a selection of a desired number of colors to display in the histogram; and   outputting a color histogram of the selected area indicating the number of points in each selected color.   
     
     
         11 . A system for analyzing medical images from a plurality of animal species used in monitoring pregnancies, the system comprising:
 one or more medical image apparatus for obtaining medical images of a patient;   a processor for receiving and analyzing the images; and   a database for storing the image and data extracted from the image,   wherein the processing unit comprises:
 a data retrieval module for extracting data from the image, the data including one or more technical settings associated with the medical imaging device from which the image was obtained; and 
 an analysis module for providing a plurality of tools for analyzing the image and the extracted data. 
   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the analysis module comprises a histogram generator configured to generate a color histogram, based on the one or more medical images, representing blood flow in the placenta. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the analysis modules comprises a search engine which provides a graphical user interface enabling a user to retrieve stored images and image data. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-implemented medical image analysis apparatus comprising:
 a data retrieval module for retrieving medical images from one or more medical imaging devices and extracting data from the retrieved medical images;   a histogram module for generating a color histogram representing one or more monitoring parameters based on the retrieved images and data;   a search module for provides a graphical user interface enabling a user to retrieve the stored medical images and image data; and   a reporting module for outputting one or more reports representing the medical images.   
     
     
         15 . The medical image analysis apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the data retrieval module is configured to:
 define a template representative of the data located in a retrieved medical image; and   perform an optical scanning operation on the retrieved medical image to obtain the data based on the defined template.   
     
     
         16 . The medical image analysis apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the histogram module is configured to:
 determine an amount of different colors is a selected area of a medical image; and   generate a histogram mapping the different colors to points in the image.   
     
     
         17 . The medical image analysis apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the histogram module generates a color histogram representing placental blood flow. 
     
     
         18 . The medical image analysis apparatus of  claim 14 , wherein the reports are output in one or more of a PDF file, a word processor file, and a spreadsheet.